Kill or Bee Killed is book #2 in the Bee Keeping Mystery series by Jennie Marts.

I enjoyed this as much as the first book. Bailey and her friends and family are entertaining, somewhat quirky characters. Bailey gets involved in the investigation to clear her friend, Evie’s, name. This has all the things I enjoy in a cozy mystery - great characters, humor, a little bit of romance, and a mystery that has enough twists to keep me guessing until the end. There are several recipes at the end. I can’t wait for the next book!

Thank you to the author, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

The second in the Bee Keeping Mystery series and for me it was better than the first, maybe because the characters and their relationships are developing so nicely.

In this book the town is celebrating the Annual Bee Festival. One of the major events is a bake off which becomes the setting for a murder. Bailey, Grandma Bee, the Great Aunts, Daisy and even the dog are all involved in solving the crime, along with the Sheriff. It is a good mystery with lots of clues and possible guilty parties.

I really like the relationship between Bailey and Daisy, who does the usual amount of young girl's eye rolling, but still takes notice of what her mother says. She is a sensible girl who still manages to get into trouble but acknowledges it when it does happen. I am less comfortable with the weird situation Bailey is creating regarding Daisy's father but I expect that will be cleared up soon.

A pleasant easy read which I am giving four stars

Kill or Bee Killed is book two in A Bee Keeping Mystery series by Jennie Marts. I fell in love with Bailey Briggs and her crazy family plus the zany residents of Humble Hills, Colorado, in the first book, Take the Honey and Run so I’ve been so excited to get this newest book. I loved it so much!

Bailey Briggs is thirty years old and is a single mom to her twelve year old daughter, Daisy. Bailey is a mystery author. She and Daisy have returned home to Humble Hills and are living with her grandmother on Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch. Bailey has loved being back home and raising her daughter here.

It’s time for the annual Bee Festival which is sponsored by her grandmother. The festival includes a baking competition. The finalists will be three local chefs from three local restaurants. One of which is Bailey’s best friend since they were eight years old, Evie Delgado Espinoza. Shockingly, they were able to bring in a famous TV personality from California, Rex Rafferty, to host and televise the event. Only, when Rex arrives, it doesn’t take long to realize that Rex isn’t the person he pretends to be on television! And when Rex turns up un-alive, all eyes look to Evie since she was heard threatening him after he tried to do something unwanted! So, our Bailey along with her granny, aunts and their zany friends, are on the job, looking for the person responsible so they can clear Evie’s name.

First, I just HAVE to mention the swoony town sheriff, Sawyer Dunn, who was Bailey’s high school sweetheart and potential current love interest. Poor Sawyer tries to be patient with all the intrusive investigators, trying to keep everyone safe. I don’t know how he does it but he always seems to show up just when Bailey and Evie need him. I also just have to mention the town medical examiner. You might be raising your eyebrows right now but he is hilarious with all his jokes. I laughed out loud. He is just so adorable. Also, Bailey’s two great aunts were just a hoot!!! One more I loved is Spike, the local big, burly bartender and owner of Hog Wild. He was also one of the three contestants of the competition and he literally is not who you think he would be. He made me melt!!

Just as in the first book, this kept me turning the pages, both to see what trouble Evie and Bailey were getting themselves in to and also to try to figure out who did it. And I have to say, I didn’t figure it out until the author chose to let me know. This is silly and fun and swoony and sweet. And don’t even get me started with all the yummy food described. I loved every page of this and can’t wait to see what trouble Bailey gets herself in to next!

Kill or Bee Killed by Jennie Marts is a highly entertaining cozy mystery featuring Bailey Briggs and her sidekick, Evie. As always when the two were together, something unlikely was going to happen. This time it was Bailey getting stuck as she was trying to escape a biker bar through a bathroom window. It might have been the glass in her pocket. They were rescued by the bartender/owner, who was not as scary as he looked. In fact he was down right good looking when it turned out he was one of the finalists in the cook-off that was part of the upcoming Bee Festival. The current problem was that they didn’t have enough contestants for the beauty pageant. The cook-off was all set, though, with Rex Rafferty, a morning show host as emcee, it would be interesting to see how things went. Then Rex ended up dead.

This is the funniest cozy series ever. Every person in the book is imbued with strong personalities, even the old ladies. The only thing keeping Bailey out of jail is Sawyer, the county sheriff, who had been her high school boyfriend, and around whom she’d been circling. He was circling back. He HATED that Bailey got involved with murder, but was always there to pull her back from the edge. It will be fun to watch this relationship grow in the coming books. Rex’s murder, it turned out, was rooted in the past, as so many are. The clues were hard to come by, it being in the middle of the festival and all, but Bailey kept trying, as did Sawyer, and they finally worked it out. Very fun, very entertaining series. Thanks Jennie Marts!

I was invited to read Kill or Bee Killed by Crooked Lane Books. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #CrookedLaneBooks #JennieMarts #KillOrBeeKilled

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!
This was such a fun read!
In the small town of Humble Hills, Colorado hosts a bee festival which consists of a bunch of different activities including a bake off run by Baileys grandma. One of the hosts winds up dead, and the implications are that Baileys best friend had something to do with it.

It’s time for the annual Bee Festival in Humble Hills, Colorado. Since Bailey’s Granny Bee is in charge, that means that Bailey will be busy with the week-long festival helping make sure that it runs smoothly. One of the events is a local-restaurant cooking contest, and morning show host Rex Rafferty is coming to town, with a film crew, to host the event. However, Rex is a horrible man, and it isn’t long before Bailey and her best friend, Evie, who is a contestant, are doing all they can to avoid him. Before the contest is over, he’s been murdered. The crew he brought with him seem like obvious suspects, but the evidence seems to point to the event’s contestants. Can Bailey free her friend?

The book starts out a bit slowly, but with a very funny scene. It isn’t long before the plot kicks in and we are meeting the victim and prime suspects. I enjoyed following Bailey as she looked for the killer. The ending was a bit abrupt, but it did answer all of my questions and kept me turning pages. Over the course of the book, we get laughs from characters and other slapstick situations. A few of the characters still don’t get enough page time to develop, but I enjoyed seeing the series regulars again and watching their relationships grow. The suspects are good, but a couple could have used a little more page time. Overall, this is a fun second entry in what is quickly becoming a sweet series.

This book is the second book in a cozy mystery series about a small town. Bailey and her daughter have moved back to her grandma's house in a small town. Bailey is a mystery writer and she seems to keep finding herself caught up in the middle of different mysteries. This one is about a festival that goes wrong when someone ends up dead.

I really liked this book! This series is a good one. I love the small town and all of the characters. Everyone knows everyone and they are all friendly. Bailey's grandma and great aunts are great characters and fun to follow. There is a bit of humor throughout here too that kept me laughing. I love the relationship between Bailey and her best friend as well. This book has a lot of great relationships throughout.

There is also a bit of romance between Bailey and her high school sweetheart. I love the romance between them because it is really sweet and cute. Her and Sawyer are a cute couple and I liked reading about them. There is only a bit of romance so I liked it because it didn't take over the mystery.

I liked the mystery as well. It was interesting and I did not guess the killer until the end.

I do feel like some of the writing annoyed me a bit. I think everyone was described too much and I did not need to know what everyone was wearing all the time. However, it didn't take away from my enjoyment.

Thanks so much to netgalley and Crooked Lane books for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This series has become one of my very favorites. Cozy Mystery writer Bailey Briggs and her daughter Daisy live with her Granny Bee on her farm in Colorado. She is getting into all kinds of hijinks with her best friend Evie and dealing with her unresolved feelings for Sherriff Sawyer Dunn who also happens to be her childhood Sweetheart.

Book #2 finds everyone at the Annual Bee Festival of Humble Hills. A Beauty Pageant, Bee talks, great food and a cooking competition are keeping our friends in Humble Hills busy but enjoying the festival, well at least until the celebrity MC of the cooking competition winds up dead and Bailey's best friend Evie is looking like the prime suspect. This calls for Bailey, Granny Bee and her book club of senior ladies known as the "the hive" to find the true culprit before Evie is cooking in prison.

I loved this one as much or more than I did the first in this series. The author has created a world of friends you never want to leave and a mystery that just draws you in till the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this story.

Having enjoyed the first book in this series, I was eager to see what lay ahead for Bailey and her group of misfits. The second installment exceeded my expectations, featuring a bake-off competition with a creepy TV host, a bee festival with a bear-themed marathon, and a beauty pageant with no age limit. All of this is seasoned with a touch of honey.

However, for Bailey and Evie, the sweetness turns bittersweet when Evie becomes a prime suspect in Rex's murder.

While I love the writing and the characters, I couldn't help but notice Bailey and Evie’s occasional childish behavior. Their sleuthing skills are commendable, but their immaturity can be off-putting at times.

The mystery is filled with red herrings and a hive of suspects. But which "killer bee" was sinister enough to murder Rex?

The murder mystery kept me guessing until the very end, and I couldn’t identify the killer before Bailey did. Overall, Kill or Bee Killed by Jennie Marts is an entertaining cozy mystery. I look forward to the next installment in this delightful series.

4.5/5

“Kill or Bee Killed” is the nicely done second book in Jennie Marts’ Bee Keeping Mystery series (despite the punny title and setup, the language keeps this from quite being a cozy mystery but it is still nicely done). This book is centered on a murder that takes place during Humble Hills, Colorado’s annual Bee Festival. Author Bailey Briggs gets involved in trying to solve the mystery when her best friend Evie becomes one of the suspects. There is a lot to like about this book (and series), starting with Bailey and her large family, her relationship with Sheriff Sawyer Dunn, her best friend Evie, and various townspeople. The Bee Festival is also nicely done and provides a good setting for the murder. The murder is nicely done with just the right amount of suspects and some very surprising twists and turns. It’s not too often that I feel sorry for the murderer in a mystery but at the end of the book in some ways I did feel sorry for the killer. Well done by Marts!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

In this second installment of A Bee Keeping Mystery series, Bailey is busy helping her grandmother and great aunts with the Annual Bee Festival. However, what starts out as a celebration of everything bees turns deadly. Once again author Jennie Marts concludes the tale with a stunning twist, leaving a pivotal question hanging in the air, only to be disrupted by a monumental cliffhanger. I hope we do not have to wait too long for book three.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

Kill or Bee Killed is a great second book in A Bee Keeping Mystery series. Bailey and family are a hoot!
Humble Hills is hosting its annual Bee Festival. Granny Bee is of course in charge of most everything, which translates into family and friends being involved with far more tasks that is reasonable.
This year the festival has a bake-off (cook-off) with a celebrity host, Rex. It’s unfortunate that Rex isn’t as nice as his TV persona suggests. Evie is one of three contestants in the bake-off. When Rex winds up dead, Evie is a suspect.
Bailey and Evie investigate and all sorts of interesting things happen.
Who killed Rex wasn’t clear until it was. There were secrets revealed, past history influencing the present and blackmail.
Bailey’s great aunts enter the beauty pageant. The descriptions of that part are excellent.
Bailey and Sawyer grow closer.
This series has just a bit of the ridiculous and just a hint of romance.
I enjoyed reading Kill or Bee Killed. It could be read as a stand-alone but there is quiet s bit of backstory that influences how this second book goes.
Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the perfect book (and series) to read this summer. The honey, food festival & a cooking competition, all in a gorgeous sounding town, makes you long for sunshine & clear skies. Add in a lot of delicious food descriptions & you’ve got a perfect cozy setting.

Bailey is a fantastic lead, smart & down to earth. The supporting cast is what really makes this book so strong. With a bff, daughter, grandmother & two great aunts, Bailey has loads of help when it comes to sleuthing. And that’s just a taste of the side characters! The town is full of them.

This is definitely one of the more enjoyable & well executed new cozy series I’ve read in recent memory. I enjoyed the second book even more than the first. It’s has a fantastic solution/ending. I will happily be looking out for future books.

🐝

Read if you like:
* Ice Cream Shop series by Meri Allen
* Maple Syrup series by Catherine Bruns
* Farm to Table series by Amanda Flower

I loved this second book in the Bee Keeping Mystery series. I really enjoyed the first book and loved how the characters developed in this book.

This was a great mystery in figuring out who done in the visiting misogynist celebrity host Rex Rafferty. There is a culinary contest and some extra heat going on between Bailey and the local sheriff.

Our mystery writing sleuth Bailey along with her great aunts and hunky sheriff/former boyfriend have their hands full trying to find the murder before its lights out for Bailey.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Bailey and the Hive- her posse of crime solvers- know that Eve didn't kill Rex Rafferty, the reality show host who has come to town. Sure the two of them argued but she didn't kill him. So Bailey and company set off to get answers, to the dismay of her law enforcement romantic interest Sawyer. This second installment of the series will be fine as a standalone. Those who read the first book will be pleased to see more character development (and a bit more of Bailey's daughter). It's a classic cozy where honey is always in the picture. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Humble Hills is preparing for their annual Bee Festival, a weekend that includes beekeeping demos, a 3K Bear Run – with participants dressed up as bears! – and the highlight of the festival, a bake-off with a celebrity TV host. Everything is going well until the host is found dead and Bailey’s best friend is the primary suspect in his murder. With help from their friends, Bailey’s daughter Daisy, and The Hive, Granny Bee’s book club, Bailey sets out to prove that Evie is not a killer.

I really liked the first book in this series, so I was excited to get an ARC of this book to read. Luckily, it lived up to my own personal hype :) I like Bailey and her friends, but I adore Granny Bee, the other members of The Hive, and of course, Cooper, the ever so goofy golden retriever. What a wonderful support system for both Bailey and her daughter, Daisy.

The murder victim in this one was a not very pleasant visitor to the area, so there didn’t seem to be many suspects at first. As clues were uncovered, though, that list became longer and longer, including some of Bailey’s nearest and dearest. There were plenty of red herrings along the way, but I was certain I knew who the killer was – until the confrontation scene near the end of the book, when all my theories were blown out of the water. The motive made sense, and I should have considered it sooner.

I’m eager to read the next book in the series, even though that means waiting another entire year to do so.

This was a fun cozy. I haven't read the previous book in this series, but it was easy to figure out who was who. Bailey is back in Humble Hills, Colorado. Her Grandmother is known for her bee keping skills and her honey. The community hosts a Bee Festival and her Grandmother is a sponsor. One of the highlights is a cooking competition when the cooks must use honey. When the celibrity host is found murdered, all eyes turn to the various contstants, including Bailey. A personal article belonging to each contestant is found on the victim. Bailey sets out to discover the true murderer, before she or her best friend are arrested. She also wants to save the Bee Festival.

The characters are fun and crazy. There are lots of suspects to investigate. This is a relaxing and easy read.

Bailey is eagerly anticipating the annual Bee Festival. Granny Bee, who owns the local bee farm, organizes the festival. This year, a celebrity from LA will host the baking contest. Bailey's best friend, Evie, is competing in the cooking show. However, when the celebrity guest is found dead, numerous suspects emerge. Sheriff Sawyer Dunn, Bailey's ex-boyfriend, is attempting to prevent her from getting involved in the murder investigation.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story in this book. After reading the first book, I had high expectations for this one and it certainly did not disappoint.

Culinary Cozy Mystery following a Colorado mystery author who's helping her granny with the annual Bee Festival as she turns sleuth after the bake-off's celebrity host's found dead.

5/5 stars: This is the second entry in Marts' Bee Keeping Mystery series, which is a Culinary Cozy Mystery that takes place in Colorado and features a mystery author who with her teenage daughter lives with her beekeeper granny at her ranch. With plenty of twists and turns, Marts has masterfully crafted a mystery that deftly balances the suspects, clues and red herrings and will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. Additionally, Marts' writing and character work is stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. It's a blast catching up with Bailey, her daughter Daisy and her family, Granny Bee and her great-aunts, Marigold and Aster, and the Humble Hills townsfolk. Plus I love her friendship with Evie. I also really like how Bailey's second-chance relationship with her HS boyfriend Sawyer, the town sheriff, continues to bloom. Oh, and one mustn't forget the sweetest dog ever, Cooper, the Golden Retriever. But wait, you'll for sure want to try out the absolutely delicious honey infused recipes that are included. Yummy! Marts tackles some sensitive subjects, so take care and check the CWs. While you could read this as a stand-alone, you'll gain so much more by reading the series from the beginning; so be sure to pick up book one, Take the Honey and Run.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Delightful laugh-out-loud moments throughout the entire book, engaging characters, and a first-rate mystery with lots of clues, plus secrets from the past make this book compulsively readable. I'm excitedly waiting for Book #3!